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Former Disney Channel star Skai Jackson arrested for domestic assault after fighting in public with her boyfriend
Jackson, 22, reportedly fell foul of the law last week, after an alleged physical spat with her boyfriend in LA.
Former children’s television star Skai Jackson was reportedly arrested last week after a public run-in with her boyfriend.
What happened?
TMZ says the 22-year-old, who is best known for her roles on Disney Channel sitcoms during the 2010s, was detained for misdemeanour domestic battery after becoming embroiled in a physical altercation with her partner, whose identity remains unknown.
The alleged incident took place at Universal CityWalk, a retail and entertainment district located next to Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California. Jackson was booked and released, TMZ reports, with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office yet to decide whether charges are to be brought against the actor.
However, the celebrity-news outlet also cites sources as saying that Jackson and her boyfriend deny claims of a physical spat. “To the contrary, she said they were happily engaged and expecting a baby together,” TMZ says.
Who is Skai Jackson?
A performer born in New York City in 2002, Jackson enjoyed her most notable acting roles as Zuri Ross on the Disney Channel show Jessie, which aired from 2011 to 2015, and its spin-off, Bunk’d, between 2015 and 2018. In 2016, she was named on Time magazine’s list of the year’s 30 most influential teens.
Since leaving Bunk’d, Jackson has appeared in films such as the 2023 action adventure Sheroes, and has had a voice role on the Marvel Rising TV franchise. She has also featured as a contestant on the celebrity dance competition Dancing with the Stars.
“Just ‘clap back’ at them a little bit”
In 2019, Jackson wrote the book Reach for the Skai: How to Inspire, Empower, and Clapback, in which she “shares her lessons on life and her rise to stardom in this vibrant memoir about self-acceptance, girl empowerment, and the classy clapback”.
“For me, the message in the book is just to be yourself,” Jackson told the TV show Good Morning America after the release of Reach for the Skai. “Love yourself no matter what anyone tells you […]; just stay true to who you are, stay true to who your self is, and be yourself.”
Explaining the concept of ‘clapping back’, she said: “You might be in a confrontation with someone - someone’s coming at you negatively. You put them in their place, but without, you know, being too nasty. You just ‘clap back’ at them a little bit.”